My daughter Jasmin wanted a cheesecake to celebrate her 14th birthday and I was not going to disappoint my little girl. I don’t have to tell you this cake is a few steps away from my normal health-focused cooking endeavors. Basically this cake is insulin sensitivity on a plate. It was damn good too!

I will give credit to the baking & love blog for the recipe framework, but I made some modifications. I didn’t stir any cookie crumbs into the batter, I used three times the nutella, and I used a layering technique to try and keep the Mars pieces evenly spread through the height of the cake. I think it turned out really well.

Nutella Mars Bar Cheesecake

makes one tall cheesecake

Crust
1/2 box (200g) oreo cookie crumbs
6 Tbsp melted butter

Batter
4 blocks cream cheese (or 2 lbs or 32 oz) at room temperature
4 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup heavy cream (I used whipping cream)
a pinch of salt

Fillers
3/4 cup nutella
8 Mars bars, chopped into small pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine cookie crumbs with melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Set the pan in the center of a large sheet of aluminum foil. You will be cooking the cake in a pan of water and the foil will keep the water out of the cake pan.

With beaters or a mixer combine the cream cheese and sugar and beat until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating to incorporate. Gently beat in the cream and salt.

Heat the nutella in a small bowl in the microwave or in a small pan on the stove. Heat it just enough to make it easier to spoon/stir, but not too hot.

Pour 1/4 of the cake batter into the pan. Drop 1/4 of the nutella in spoonfulls onto the batter. Use a knife or toothpick to swirl the nutella into the batter. Spread 1/3 of the chopped Mars bars evenly onto the batter. Repeat with 1/4 batter, swirl in 1/4 of the nutella, and 1/3 of the chopped Mars bars. Once more and you’ve used up all the Mars bar pieces. Pour the remaining cake batter into the pan, swirl in all of the remaining nutella.

Bring the foil up the sides of the cake pan and set the whole thing in a larger pan with an inch or two of water. Bake the whole contraption for about 80-90 minutes. Crack the door of the oven and turn off the heat. Let the cake cool in the oven for an hour, then remove it to the fridge to chill for at least a few hours before unmolding and serving.

18 whole oreo cookies, finely crushed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
32 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided in half
1 cup fresh strawberries, stems removed
1/4 cup whipping cream

Mix the oreo crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

Combine 24 ozs of the cream cheese and the sugar, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in sour cream and vanilla; pour over crust.

Combine remaining 8 ozs cream cheese and 6oz chocolate chips. Microwave in 30 second intervals until chocolate chips melt, mixing at medium speed on eletric mixer until well blended. Puree the strawberries in a blender or food processor. Add to the chocolate cream cheese mixture. Drop rounded spoonsfuls of chocolate cream cheese batter over plain cream cheese batter, do not swirl.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 25 minutes. Let cool before releasing the sides of the pan.

Melt chocolate pieces and whipping cream over low heat (or in microwave), stirring until smooth. Spread over top of cheesecake. Allow to harden – you may chill the cake to speed up the process.

Makes 24 squares/bars.

2 pkgs mini marshmallows (or eight cups)
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 cups golden graham or cinnamon toast crunch cereal
3/4 cup peanuts
1 cup chocolate chips or mini M&M
PAM (or any non-stick cooking spray)

Spray a large mixing bowl with PAM, and spray a mixing spoon and a 9×13 baking pan. Put one package (or six cups) of mini marshmallows in the bowl with the butter. Microwave on high for two minutes, stopping to stir twice, so that the marshmallows and butter and melted and mixed well.

Quickly stir in the vanilla extract. Add the cereal and stir to combine. Stop and spray your mixing spoon again to prevent too much sticking. Stir in the peanuts, half of the chocolate chips, and an additional two cups of marshmallows.

Dump the mixture into the baking pan and spread/flatten it with the back of the spoon, until the mixture is evenly spread through the pan. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate on top and press into the mixture with the back of a spoon. Let the squares set for an hour before slicing. Stores for about a week, if they last that long.

In a saucepan heat the shortening, milk, and sugar just to a boil. Stir for 1 minute and turn off the heat. Quickly add the other ingredients; add the oatmeal until the mixture is thick and sticky, but not too dry. Let sit for one minute, then scoop onto waxed paper to finish cooling.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the shortening and brown sugar. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; blend well. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon onto a cookie sheet, greased or lined with a silpat. Bake 8-10 minutes.

Mix margarine and flour. Press into a 9×13″ pan. Cover with most of the almonds. Bake about 10 minutes at 350 degrees until golden, cool. Beat cream cheese, icing sugar, and 1/2 cup Cool Whip together. Spread on top of crust. Mix milk and puddings. Spread over the cream cheese layer. Spread on remaining Cool Whip and almonds. Refrigerate, serve.

2 cups natural peanut butter or cashew butter
1 3/4 cups honey
2 1/4 cups of protein powder, chocolate is best
3 cups dry, uncooked oatmeal

Combine peanut butter and honey in a large mixing bowl and heat in the microwave for about 70 seconds.
Stir in protein powder and oatmeal. Mix thoroughly. It will be thick!
Press into a 9″ x 13″ pan. Refrigerate until solid enough to cut and then cut into 16 equal bars. Wrap each bar in foil or saran wrap and store in plastic baggie in refrigerator.

**I always recommend checking your stats by using fitday.com and adding your PB and protein powder stats in from the label.**
Serving Size: 1 bar
Calories: 267
Fat: 15 g
Protein: 18 g
Carbohydrates: 38 g